The eastern seaboard is on a pretty good number of fault lines and we're overdue.

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"In past centuries, earthquakes with Magnitude 5.0 have occurred about every 100 years in the New York City area. Modern New York City is ill prepared even for such moderate events. Although New York City is a region with low seismic hazard - meaning there are infrequent damaging earthquakes - it actually has high seismic risk because of its tremendous assets. The extreme concentration of buildings, and the fragility of its structures, most of which haven't been seismically designed, mean that even a relatively minor quake could cause major damage." Add subways and tunnels to the list of problems in New York. The area of the city most susceptible to damage would be the Upper East Side.